Tuesday, July 31, 2012

I've bought lots of sketchbooks over the years, but I've never been very good at filling them. I guess I was never taught the purpose behind them and was always nervous about touching pen to paper there.

See, there's part of the deal right there....I think most people would touch PENCIL to paper in a sketchbook, but I've never been able to draw with a pencil. I don't like the scratchy feel of it across the paper. When I was about 6 or 7 I started using felt tip markers when I drew and immediately liked the way the dark lines "popped" off the page and the smooth way my line would flow from the pen.

High praise for a "Flair" pen.

I was always given loose leaf paper to draw on too, so the book has a feel of permanence to it. "Don't make a mistake, or else there'll be a crappy drawing between your good ones!" is what it feels like to me.

As I've grown older...I mean like, just this last month...I've learned the obvious, that it's the opposite of that. "What if there's a work of genius between all of your crappy drawings?". And have started carrying one around and giving it a go.

Here's a bunch of scribbles and notes...an aborted "Little Nemo" there on his side in the right half and an attempt at disguising someone with an afterthought beard in the middle on his side. I see Bob the Alien and another alien with a space helmet conversing across the page, and an early working out of Hulk, Archie and Richie Rich from before I listen to my heart and knew I liked Jughead better. Oh, and apparently Mickey Mouse wanted to go on their road trip, too.

So I kind of figured out (at the cusp of turning 49 years old) that a sketchbook is where you work out ideas. Not just on the page, but in the right half of your brain.

No one ever said I was a genius.

Here's me prodding myself to NOT fill up the sketchbook with pics of things I can already draw...work on stuff you have a block about.

And I'm hoping that's the point. I'm diggin' on the freewheelin' of just drawing. Something I haven't really done since I was about 11. I've always drawn with a project in mind and lost a little bit of the fun of just tickling that side of my brain and seeing what comes out.

See...I'm just a slowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww learner.

Here I am playing with widths of a pen. I had one handy that had a fine point in one end and a bold in the other.

Just drawing for a while and waiting for all those ideas to unclog. Working toward clearing those drains in my brain that don't flow the way I want.

But right now, I'm apparently trapped inside of a aspirin-headed-pineapple suit.

Sunday, July 29, 2012

Sunday morning and back again for more 4 color fun delivered to your doorstep for pennies a serving. Another glimpse back to the days before newspapers wanted to charge you a dollar for page after page of advertisements and actually offered content between said ads. SOME even had news!

Part 2 of my scans of the March 12, 1960 edition of the "Star". I'm sure I knew what city the "Star" was in when I bought it, but this info is lost to the passing sands of time I suppose.

Today we see Milton Caniff's mature soap opera "Steve Cayon". So far from his adventuresome "Dickie Dare" or "Terry & The Pirates" days, yet changing for all the right reasons. Deft inking and layouts and adult characterization and good solid storytelling.

Harry Weinert's "Vignettes of Life" another of the hodge-podge/anthology strips of the day. Easy to read, easy for the editor to lop off 1/2 of and run ads or another feature instead. More commerce in action...it is what it is.

Lee Falk's "Mandrake the Magician". Past it's prime here for sure, but 1960 still doesn't seem out of time for MM as 1968 will.

Full bore centerspread with three (count 'em 3!) strips to a double size page. Far better than the last time I looked at a paper and saw as many as 6 on a regular page.

Mell Lazarus' "Miss Peach", "Ripley's 'Belieeve It or Not'" and Jimmy Hatlo's "They'll Do It Every Time". The strip page was evolving as tastes were and rightfully so. These strips are breezy, easy to read and easy of the eye.

Nothing wrong with any of that, I learn more and more as I mature as well.

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Saturday Morning and finally a respite to a 2 week period of obligations! I still have a couple of errands to run, but no all-day or 1/2 da commitments involved, and you know what makes me feel like I'm at the beginning of 2 days of liberation?

Saturday morning cartoons! Mmmmmmmmm.

Dig in, everyone...Monday's just around the corner, but for now...we are free.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Between Comic-Con, work, work obligations (Saturday meetings 40 miles from home????? Really??????) and of course, my own shiftless, laziness, I've gotten behind slightly on writing cartoons for the blog.

There's still a ways to go in my tale of "Jeffy Inside Jeff Overturf's Head" and plenty of potential for "Road Trip with Jughead Jones, The Incredible Hulk and Richie Rich" and plenty of room for more "Cousin Frank and Bigfoot", not to mention getting back to my "A Slight History of Golden Age Comic Book Super-Heroes" and more.

But until I get to this weekend and do some catch-up, here's more of my trip to San Diego.

There are a lot of pics in this post, and I thought about spreading them out a little, but this kind of information overload is exactly what you experience when you're there. Too much stimuli for one brain to drink in, so you take in the best you can and have a good time.

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles arrive!

But I did hold back a little...all of these pics were taken the 1st of the 4 days.

I wanted to give folks a feeling of the magnitude of the exhibit hall, but really, it's like looking at pics of the Grand Canyon...it just ain't the same.

Total Recall car.

Walking Dead booth...

Golem.

Truth to tell, all of these pics of the hall were all taken in about an hour and a half. I actually went back to the hotel in the afternoon between panels and dinner and took a nap and came back.

Show's how much can be crammed in.

A costume booth...beautiful stuff from Star Wars...

Star Trek...

and The Avengers!

Ahhhhhhhhhh the ARchie booth.

We all know the Riverdale gang and their pals Sabrina the teen-age witch and Josie and the Pussycats...but "Archie's pal Kevin"? new to me.

Shoes reflecting the magic of Comic-Con!

The Madtropolitan Museum of Art.

Out of the streets of SD...Comic-Con leaks...

Mmmmmmmmmmmm pulled pork sammich and a beer...good way to end the first day.

Thanks again SD, for being such a gracious host to all of us nerds and ne'er-do-wells.